Love in the Time of Sea Monsters

 

Link to the uncensored version

I thought that the gay subtext romance in "Below"  was a little underdeveloped, so I fixed it.  I hope I got the Newfoundland slang right

Fort McMurray was a sh*thole town on the Alberta Oil Sands, where ox-dumb byes, high school footballers and Newfie fishermans' sons, sweated and strained on the oil sands, and slept in too-tight quarters.  Where on the weekends, there was nothing to do but drink, gamble, and jump into bed. 

Jay loved it.

It was just temporary, of course. Sometimes after staying up all night at the Rivers Casino, Jay passed All Saints Anglican Church, with husbands and wives and kids filing inside, the men in their Sunday suits, the women in sun dresses, and he thought, "That's me in a few years.  That's my destiny."  He wasn't really into sex with girls -- he could take it or leave it -- but he was nearly 30, and finding a girl, getting married, and having a family was the only pathway to maturity.  To adulthood.  To living a normal life.

But finding a girl could wait.  There were too many Jesus hot byes in Fort Mac.

Then he lost $40,000 in a single night of drinking too much and not gambling enough.  Now it was $80,000, payment or broken legs,  due immediately.  He ran away to Calgary, and then home to Snook's Arms, a tourist village on the Newfoundland coast.  He never talked about home with any of the Fort Mac byes, so no one would know where he was. Hopefully.

Monday:

Snook's Arms wasn't as idyllic as Jay remembered.  Dad, an iceberg wrangler, had accidentally uncovered a frozen block of sea monster mucus crawling with ancient microbes, his brother Wade was having hallucinations, and his sister was upset over the theft of her engagement ring.  And Jay got a text: "You're a dead man!"  

Tuesday:

Half the town was getting sick from the ancient microbes, and the owner of the mucus block, an ancient sea monster, had re-appeared to chomp fishermen in half.  And Jay got another text:  "We know where you are, fucko!"  

Wednesday:

In spite of all the paranormal threats, it was still Coming Home Year, so Snook's Arms had a week of festivities planned.  A girl Jay knew back in high school invited him to the Garden Party.  Maybe this was his chance at marriage and family, a normal life?

No such luck.  Before he could meet the girl, he was approached by two toughs.  He recognized Connor from Fort McMillan:  he had gone down a few times.  A right mad, muscular skeet with red hair and a long red beard.  The other guy was black, slim, Jesus handsome, with a short beard and piercing brown eyes.

"Um...whaddaya at, byes?", he began.  "Welcome to..."

Connor punched him in the stomach.  The wind knocked out of him, he fell to his knees.  "What..."

"Me and me bye Mo had to take two flights, a three hour drive, and a ferry ride just to see ye, ye handsome devil.  The boss wants his money."

Connor punched him again, and the black guy -- Mo, maybe short for Mohammed?  -- kicked him.

"I been done, boyo -- I gots the money," he said, right skeezed.  "Almost.  I just need  a day or two to gather it up. Look -- I'll go down.  Both of ye."

Connor grinned.  "I admit, you're a  right mad c*cksman, me love, but not $60,000 worth."

"Just in a sign of good faith." 

"Eh...do us both, and you get two days." He led Jay off into the woods.

The s*x scene is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.

Thursday:

When the skeets approached again, Jay showed them proof of city residency.  "The province is paying us to relocate. I'll have $60,000 in just a few weeks."

"We need the money now, me bye!"  Connor yelled, right rotted.

"Just a few weeks -- I promise.  Just think of this as a vacation.  We can have a time -- there's a casino down in Grants.  I can get you some girls..."

"We're not here for girls!" Mo exclaimed, staring at Jay.  Was he threatening or turned on?

"Byes, then.  Whatever you're into."

This made Mo smile.  Still staring at Jay, he said  "I've never been out east before, Connor. I wouldn't say no to some sightseeing."

Connor laughed.  "And byes.  That's all you ever think about, innit?" Wait -- was he into guys or not?  

"Ok, Jay boy, we'll give you two more days.  But it will cost you another blow job."

Friday:

The town was under a stay-in-place order due to the disease that had everyone thirsty for no reason, a cult of monster-worshippers that had his brother Wade running around bare-arsed, and the sea monster, who for some reason targeted only the family's enemies. Just a normal week in Newfoundland. 

Saturday:

They scoffed at the Chicken Bar -- talking, smiling.  Was Jay beginning to think of them as friends, just a few days after they were punching and kicking him?

On the way home, Jay suggested some other fun things to do during their stay.  "We could go whale watching, or fishing."

"Fishing sounds good," Mo said, smiling.  "I haven't gone fishing since I was little, back in Mogandishu."

"Where's that?"

"Somalia."  Jay didn't know much about Somalia, just that there were a lot of Somali refugees in Canada, some in the oil fields in Fort Mac. And he read an article once about the biggest d*cks in the world.  Somalis were in the top ten.

Imagining Mo's d*ck, he started to blush.  "What kind of fish?"

Connor ordered them to shut up.  Hey, they weren't turning onto the road that led back to the B&B!

Suddenly Mo pulled a gun.  Oh, shite!  His hands were trembling -- he was right shitebaked, terrified!   Jay could use his hesitation -- he jerked at the gun.  Mo shot indiscriminately, Connor screamed -- and they flew off the road into the bay. 

Jay managed to kick open the car door and swim out just as the sea monster attacked, its huge mouth chomping down on the car...chewing it?  "Jay, help!" Mo yelled.

Jesus shite!  He dove back into the bay and pulled Mo to safety, but he didn't reach Connor in time. The sea monster finished chomping on the car and disappeared.

More after the break

Sunday:

When Jay awoke, he was lying under a tree, a few yards up from the bay.  Mo was sitting beside him.

"Hey, how you feelin'?" he asked.

"Alive -- which is on you."  

Why was he still here?  Did he still want to collect the money?

"Yeah, well, you'd have done the same."

"Yep."  Mo paused.  "So, what now?"

"You tell me," Jay said, afraid of the answer.

"Our mutual friend in Fort Mac is not going to believe this."

"No, probably not.  Although he might buy, is that I came up with the cash, and then Connor took off with it."

Mo grinned.  "Yeah, he might buy that."

Jay helped him to his feet, and they started walking toward town.  "Our phones are at the bottom of the bay, but you can used the landline at the house. Get us off the hook."  

"And then what?" .

Jay shrugged.  "How about a scoff, a shower, and a nap?  I didn't get much sleep last night."

When they reached town, Dad approached with fists clenched, as if he planned to attack. "It's ok!" Jay told him. "This is Mo -- he's good folk."  

Apparently that was enough.  Dad invited them back to the house for breakfast -- fried eggs, toutons (fried bread), fish cakes, and baked beans.  Usually, when he brought a friend home, Dad and his brother and sister would pepper the bye with questions: "What do you do?  Where are you from?  How did you and Jay meet?" Jay had a story prepared about how he and Mo were friends in Fort Mac, he came on vacation, and Connor had to leave unexpectedly, but no one asked, not even when they reached for the toast at the same time and their hands touched.  

The others were still sitting around the kitchen table, or standing by the cupboards, when Mo spoke up: "You said something about a shower and a nap, Jay?"

This made Dad grin.  "You byes can go up and use Jay's old room.  Don't sleep for too long, though. We're being evacuated in a few hours."

The s*x scene is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.

Mo returned to Jay and lay his head on his chest. "You're beautiful, brother."

"When you turned down my offer the other night, I figured you weren't into byes." 

"Not into byes?"  Mo laughed.  "My dad caught me with a guy when I was sixteen, and broke my wrist trying to push me out of the house.  He doesn't speak to me anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm just not into doing things with a stranger in the woods.  I want it to be real."

"So..is this real?"

Mo raised up to look at him. "You saved my life a minute after I tried to shoot you.  You're a good man, Jay, and I haven't been good for a long time.  I'm going to stay by your side until you tell me to go away."

Jay leaned up to kiss him.  "I can't go back to Fort Mac."

"Me, neither.  My family is Calgary, but we're not speaking."  He paused. "This may sound strange coming from a Muslim, but I've always wanted to work in a bar."

"We could move to St. John's.  Or even Montreal."

"Or wherever you want.  I'm with you.  I go where you go."

Suddenly the door burst open. It was his Dad.  "Guys, we have to..."  Then, noticing that they were lying on the bed n*ked, he looked away. "Sorry.  But get dressed and get your stuff around.  The evacuation guard is here."

Jay never introduced Mo to anyone as his boyfriend or partner.  Apparently he didn't have to. From that moment on, Mo was part of the family.  After the crisis was resolved, they moved into Jay's old room until they could afford a house of their own.  They managed the B&B, and later the distillery, and later a gay-friendly coffee house.  At Christmas time Jay's dad and brother and sister gave them gifts together -- a painting, a book, matching horrible Christmas sweaters -- and they kissed under the mistletoe.  They kissed at their wedding, too, and at their fiftieth anniversary party, with all of the family gathered around.

See also:An amazingly open gay subtext in "Below": From attempted murder to romance in three hours. Plus some n*de Somali dudes

Eight Halifax hunks, bulging Bluenoses, and n*ked New Brunswickers

The Pontius Gemstone Horror Picture Show, with Stacy, Frank, Rocky, and a special appearance by Dolly Parton

Breaking Fast: Gay Muslim gets dumped, finds a new boyfriend, shows his d*ck. But are any of the actors actually gay and Muslim?